Hey Look, A Conspiracy
by saresare
Summary: Taylor Craig meets Ben Trent. Drama ensues as they set out to discover the mystery of the anomalies. Forgive the terrible title, any better name ideas are welcome.
1. Title

**»-(¯`v´¯)-»**

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HEY LOOK, A CONSPIRACY  


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_by saresare_

Taylor Craig meets Ben Trent. Drama ensues as they set out to discover the mystery of the anomalies.

I don't know why, but I've always shipped Taylor and Ben, even though they're both such minor characters and never met each other in the canon. I thought I was the only one, then I was talking to scarxtardis about shippings and found out that she not only ships them as well, but was _also_ working on a story about them.

So this story is dedicated to Scarlett Temple, because we just can't seem to stop reading each others' minds.

Are there any other Ben/Taylor shippers out there?

**DISCLAIMER:** I own nothing.

**RATING:** T  
**Contains:** Nothing yet, it's just to be safe

**STATUS: **Incomplete.  
**Expected chapters: **No idea, but almost certainly over ten.

**SPOILERS:  
**Episodes 1.1, 2.5**  
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	2. Chapter 1: The Forest of Dean

:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. **Chapter One**

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Taylor didn't like her new school. In fact she didn't like anything about this suburb. She didn't know anyone and it just wasn't _home_.

Steve had decided it would be 'best' for them to move. He was stubbornly adamant that Taylor had "fallen down the pipe" because she was too upset from her mother's death, and apparently leaving the apartment which held the memories of her mother would do her good. Taylor had kicked and screamed and had almost literally been dragged from the place, and now all her and Steve did was fight.

Taylor walked along the hallway, trying to shut out the sounds of happy kids playing outside. She noticed a large dent in one of the cupboards and was briefly curious of its origin, but a shout from a nearby classroom drew her attention away from it.

"You can't pretend it didn't happen!" came a boy's voice from inside the room.

A second voice responded but Taylor couldn't make out the words. She pressed her ear against the door.

"You know it was real!" continued the boy. "You were THERE! You can't just act like it never happened! There was a dinosaur here! A gorgonopsid, I looked it up!"

Taylor's heart pounded. A _dinosaur_? Memories of the giant scorpions flashed through her mind.

The second person said something unintelligible which resulted in another angry shout from the first person. The door swung open and, before Taylor had the chance to escape, the boy pushed past her and stormed from the room. He punched the wall in frustration then disappeared around a corner.

Taylor glanced inside the classroom to see a teacher staring at her with slumped shoulders. Before the woman could barrage her for eavesdropping Taylor dashed away after the boy.

"Oi! Oi, you!" she called out, spotting him in the hallway. The bell rung and suddenly kids were bustling around her, blocking her path.

A chubby red-haired boy popped up out of nowhere. "What you want him for?" he demanded.

Taylor turned to him. "What's it to you?"

"Just he's crazy, is all." The redhead made circular motions around his ears. "You know, coo-coo."

Taylor leant forward. "Why, what happened?"

"Reckons he saw a dinosaur in the school," the boy scoffed. "Says that Miss Cameron and him got trapped in the end classroom because of the dinosaur. Obviously he's making it up, 'cause Miss Cameron says it never happened. He's a nut."

"What's his name?"

"Ben. Uh… Trent, I think. Ben Trent."

Taylor frowned and scanned the hall for any sign of Ben. There was none; he was lost in the menagerie of kids. She sighed. She'd have to find him later.

xxx

Spratt bounced around her legs and yapped. Taylor grunted and unceremoniously dropped the dishes in the sink, ignoring the clatter that rang around the kitchen.

"Watch it!" Steve called from the lounge room, where he was sprawled out on the sofa watching television.

Taylor growled. She cooked and cleaned and did the housework and this slob had the nerve to tell her to 'watch it'? She grabbed Spratt's leash, clipped it on and slipped out the back door.

Spratt danced about and tugged on the leash, struggling to do her own investigation of every bush and blade of grass. Their new apartment was down the road from an expanse of woodland, and Taylor decided that a wander through would help calm her down. She led Spratt past the green fence and into the towering trees of the Forest of Dean. A few birds chattered on a nearby branch and the wind whistled faintly through the sparse leaves.

Taylor exhaled, letting the tranquillity wash over her. Her and Spratt traipsed through the trees in relative silence. After a few minutes Taylor realised the quiet was just making it easier for her mother to sneak into her head and within another thirty seconds she was sitting at the base of a tree with her arms wrapped around her legs and the tears flowing down her cheeks.

Spratt yapped at her and scrambled over her knees, energetically running her tongue all over her owner's face. After a while the tears were indistinguishable against the dog slobber. Taylor laughed meekly and rolled Spratt over to rub her belly vigorously. Spratt wagged her tail and yapped again.

"You're a good girl," Taylor murmured.

The sound of a snapping twig made her look up. A figure dashed away, scattering the dead leaves everywhere. Taylor jumped up and took pursuit, calling out. "Oi, you! Who are you? Oi, stop!"

The person ignored her. She realised with a shock who it was. "Ben!"

He stopped and turned around, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do you know my name?" he demanded.

"Why were you watching me?" Taylor countered, approaching him.

"I was just walking past and saw you crying. I was trying to decide whether to do something or leave you alone."

"Oh okay." Taylor wiped her eyes to rid the remaining tears.

"So how do you know my name? Who are you?"

"I'm Taylor. A boy from school told me who you are. I was trying to talk to you in the hall but you didn't hear me."

"Why were you trying to talk to me?"

"I overheard you talking to Miss Cameron about the dinosaur," Taylor said.

His eyes blazed with anger. "And you think I'm crazy, too!" he scoffed, taking an aggravated step back. "I know what I saw! More than once! It destroyed my room!"

"I don't think you're crazy. I seen one too."

Ben stopped, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Well it wasn't really a dinosaur," Taylor admitted. "It was giant sand scorpions. But I went back millions of years in the past!"

Ben took a step closer, tilting his head slightly. "You're not making fun of me, are you?"

"No. There was desert and rocks and things."

Ben failed to suppress a laugh at her unintentional echo of his argument over a year ago.

"What are you doing in here?" Taylor asked.

"Looking for the portal," he divulged.

"The big light?"

"Yes!" Ben's voice rose a couple of octaves in excitement. So she _was _serious. Finally someone who not only believed him, but knew what he was talking about. "When did you see it?"

"Back in Hackney about three months ago. Spratt ran into it and I followed her through. Nick and Stephen came through and we got trapped on the other side for a while," she explained.

"Nick," Ben repeated. The name sounded familiar. He made a K sound. "Nick K- something?"

"Cutter?"

"That's it!"

"You met 'im?"

"Yeah, him and Abby. Abby … uh, Maylan, I think it was. Or something like that."

"I never met no Abby."

Ben frowned. "The gorgonopsid chased us through the forest, and then she went and told everybody she didn't see anything," he recounted lividly. "The stupid thing followed me home and tore my room apart. It almost ate me. Mum was so angry; she didn't believe anything I said. It hasn't been the same at home since."

"How long ago was that?" Taylor asked.

"About a year and a half." He looked at her sideways. "I'm thirteen. How old are you?"

"I turned twelve last month." Taylor noticed the camera hanging around his neck. "Do you come here often, looking for the big light?"

"Every day," Ben declared. "I'm going to prove it exists. I know it's out there somewhere, I just have to find it again."

Taylor barely had a moment's hesitation before saying, "Can I help?"

Ben eyed her. "Sure. No one ever believed me before, so sure. Would be good to have some company."

Taylor grinned. "Cool, so wh-"

Spratt had been snuffling around her feet, overturning some leaves. Suddenly the dog unearthed a lizard which shot out like a rocket; immediately she flitted after it.

"Oi! Spratt!" Taylor dashed after the little terrier, calling out desperately. "Spratt, come back, girl!"

She chased the dog through the trees for a few minutes before coming to a halt and gaping in astonishment. Spratt disappeared in a blaze of white light, yapping her little head off.

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A/N_: Yes, I know Abby's name is Maitland, before you say. _

_I have no solid plotline planned for this story, just a couple of vague bunnies floating around in my head, so updates will be a little less predictable than my usual stories._

_For anyone waiting for me to update season three of And You Can Quote Me On That, I've been slack and I'm sorry. __*ducks from flying objects* __I've done four episodes so far, bear with me, I'll get them done ASAP.  
_


	3. Chapter 2: One Day in the Permian

:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. **Chapter Two  
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Ben careened into her, knocking them both over with a loud "oof!"

"It's the portal!" Ben exclaimed, scrambling to his feet. "I found it!" He picked up his camera and snapped a photo excitedly.

Taylor got up and brushed the leaves off her clothes and picked a twig from her hair. "No, _Spratt_ found it. My dog just went in there. She could get hurt, or lost, or trapped!"

Ben turned to her, eyes wide. "You're not thinking of going through, are you?"

"Of course I am!" Taylor berated.

"But you could get hurt!" He looked at the anomaly. "You can't go in _there_."

"Watch me." Ignoring his next protest, Taylor turned and stepped through.

The ground was of black sandy soil, a product of the myriad of volcanic mountains dotting the horizon. The air was bitterly cold; shards of frost hung like Christmas decorations from the sparse trees and a few snowflakes were drifting down. Taylor shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and bit her tongue in a vain attempt to stop her teeth chattering. Her skin was already turning numb from the cold.

"Spratt?" she called, her breath misting the air. "Where are you, girl? We don't belong here!"

There weren't any creatures that she could see, and it looked very different to the Silurian, so she had no idea where she was. She heard a faint yelp somewhere downhill and shielded her eyes from the biting wind to look. She couldn't see anything, so she half-walked, half-slid down the hill.

"Spratt!" she yelled.

Nothing.

"Come on, Spratt, come here! Where are you?"

Long minutes passed. She wandered about, calling out desperately. "Spratt! Please, girl, co-"

A loud growl interrupted her. She froze, hitching her breath in fear. The noise rumbled deep, sending a chill through her veins. She turned slowly, biting her top lip as the reptile came into view, its nose raised hungrily and its huge feet sending tremors through the earth.

Her feet moved without thought, backing away instinctively. Her eyes were wide with terror and her breath caught in her throat. Her shoe brushed a twig.

_Snap_.

It twisted its head to face her, its small beady eyes narrowed to slits of malice.

She bolted, fear and adrenaline coursing through her body and pushing her forward. She ran as fast as she could, but she was already exhausted and sluggish from the freezing cold. She didn't make it far before the creature's breath was on her neck and its incisors an inch from her ear.

"Hey, remember me!"

The creature growled and halted as a rock bounced off its head. Taylor stumbled and fell, staring up with huge eyes as the creature flailed its head in agitation. She crawled backward, her gaze never leaving the sight.

"Come on, hurry up." Ben appeared behind her and hoisted her to her feet. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away, just as the animal regained its composure and snapped at the space where she'd just been.

"What is that?" she cried.

"Gorgonopsid!"

"So where are we?"

They reached the edge of a low precipice and scrambled down it. Ben pulled her underneath into the shelter of a tiny cave.

"The Permian! My favourite era. Though I gotta say I prefer it in the textbook."

The roof of the cave trembled and debris fell down in chunks around them. A snarling erupted somewhere nearby and a thick paw crashed down on the entrance, quaking the walls and floors. There was a flash of white and suddenly a row of dagger-like teeth were inches from where they were, gnashing hopefully in the confined space.

Ben shoved his hand over Taylor's mouth before she had the chance to scream. He pushed her against the wall of the cave, as far back as possible, and squeezed in beside her. They were pressed against each other, both listening to the sounds of the predator outside slowly invade their tiny sanctuary, both feeling the terrified breath of the other come in shuddering gasps on their necks.

He could barely see her outline in the darkness, and noticed her eyes were squeezed firmly shut. They were going to die here. His obsession with the time portal was going to kill him and this random girl he had just met. They were going to become dinosaur fodder and be hung from a tree like that cow. He wished he'd never found Rex in the forest. He regretted everything. He just wanted to go home.

The gorgonopsid finally managed to thrust its head into the opening, opening its cavern of a mouth with a hungry growl.

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A/N: _I'm so sorry for the long update and the short chapter! I'm supposed to be writing a book, so its been back and forth to this chapter for a month. I'm going to try to get at least one chapter up every week. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and favourited!_


	4. Chapter 3: Cave In

:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. **Chapter Three  
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_This chapter is dedicated to _sarahluvsdwrh_ for making me LOL quite a lot with her name suggestion and the resulting conversation we had. I promise if I can ever be bothered to think up names for these chapters, one will be called _Primeval: The Return of Spratt_._

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Ben held his camera up and snapped a photo. The flash lit up the cave like a blinding blaze of lightening, and the gorgonopsid reared up in alarm. The impact of its head against the ceiling rocked the cave like an earthquake had struck and it began to collapse. Taylor coughed as the rocks and chunks of dirt exploded around them and filled her nose and eyes and mouth. Her throat was burning on the dust, she couldn't see, she couldn't breathe. All she could hear was the angry roaring of the gorgonopsid and, in the distance, a faint yapping.

"Spratt!" she choked out.

She flailed about, struggling to push the closing walls off her. Sunlight suddenly streamed through a small hole created in the roof, where more debris was still falling through. She pushed herself to her feet and shook Ben's shoulders.

"Get up, get up!" she screamed, slapping him across the face.

He stirred and jolted awake, blinking in pain as the rubble filled his own eyes. He scrambled up and pushed Taylor up through the hole. She dug her knees into the ground and pulled him up after her in time for the whole thing to cave in. The ground fell away and they tumbled back down onto what remained of the cave.

They were sprawled on their backs, their skin blackened from the soot and dirt and their muscles protesting furiously against the commotion. Taylor shoved off a large branch hugging her torso and managed to sit up, fluffing her hair out to send a shower of dirt and debris everywhere. Ben rolled over and coughed heavily, hacking up the dust from his throat and wincing as his eyes burnt from the assault.

"Not a very good idea to hide in there, was it?" Taylor snapped, running a hand over the bruises and cuts along her limbs.

"Better than turning into lunch," Ben replied defensively.

"I was doing fine until you hit it with a rock and made it angry."

"Next time I'll let you get eaten then!"

Taylor pushed herself to her feet and clambered up out of the hollow. Ben rolled his eyes and climbed out after her. "Where are you going?" he demanded.

"To find my dog." She said it as casually as if she was ducking out to the store, not traipsing through a prehistoric forest laden with carnivorous dinosaurs.

"You're insane!"

"I don't care what you think of me," she hissed. "I don't need your help. I can do well fine on my own."

"Look where we are! Look _when_ we are! You can't run off by yourself, we need to find the portal and get home," Ben pointed out austerely.

"You find the portal. You go home. I'm not leaving without my dog."

"Come on, don't be stupid. You'll die out here. It's freezing and there are _dinosaurs_! We need to stick together," Ben insisted.

Taylor ignored him and walked away, calling out her dog's name. Ben followed with a huff of frustration and grabbed her shoulder. "Taylor!"

"I'm not leaving her here," she snapped. "And I don't need you. I never asked for you to come in the first place. I don't want you here."

Ben froze in shock, her sharp words ringing in his ears. "Fine." He turned and stormed off, not once glancing back at her.

Taylor stood and watched him leave, her chest heaving with irritation. She closed her eyes and exhaled through her teeth, flicking her hair. God, he was frustrating. Why couldn't he understand that she didn't need anyone's help? She was perfectly capable of looking after herself. _Alone._

She traipsed down the hill, not really paying attention to her surroundings, somewhat immured in her irked thoughts. She was stuck millions of years in the past searching for her lost dog by herself. All she needed was an expanse of sand and some giant scorpions and she'd be suffering the worst case of déjà vu.

"Spratt!" she pleaded loudly.

She rubbed her arms, desperately trying to warm herself. Small icicles were clinging to her clothes, the frigid cold sinking through the fabric and biting into her skin. The cold was creeping into her veins, chilling her through all the way to the bone. She let out a shuddering breath and forced herself to take another step, suddenly feeling very tired. She leant against a tree, watching her breath dance through the air through heavy eyelids.

Maybe she could just rest here for a moment. Yes, that's what she would do; just rest her eyes for a few minutes until the fierce numbing ache in her muscles went away. She sighed, closed her eyes and succumbed to the fatigue.

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_Another short chapter! I know, I'm sorry :( I try to aim for around 1,200 words per chapter but I also prefer leaving them on cliffhangers so that's why the lengths fluctuate so much and some are as short as 750. Please refrain from throwing your various fruit items at me._


	5. Chapter 4: Ain't Baggage

:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. **Chapter Four**

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"Come on Taylor, wake up … Wake up! Don't die on me now." Ben took Taylor's shoulders and shook her roughly, struggling to return her to consciousness. "Don't you dare fall asleep!"

Her head lolled as he shook her, her eyes remaining closed and her breathing slow and weak. He brushed the snow from her hair and her clothes and slipped his arms underneath hers, dragging her out from beneath the tree.

xxx

It took a few minutes for Taylor to realise that the light dancing in front of her was a fire. She stared at it blankly for a while more, still disorientated, trying to gather a coherent thought. Why was there a fire in her bedroom? The raucous smell of smoke filled her nose and she blinked against the harsh burning against her eyes.

It took another several minutes for any cognitive brain function to set in. Taylor flailed against the blanket, suddenly panicked. She struggled against the fabric, desperate to escape the flames eating up her bedroom. Why couldn't she move? She was trapped!

She vaguely recognised her name being called, but it sounded so distant. She cried out in fear and confusion when something touched her. The noise got louder. Something was shaking her. She shouted and lashed out, stricken with alarm and still disorientated.

A gasp of pain from in front of her triggered a spark of lucidity and memories of the past few hours flooded her mind. She sat up abruptly, the scene around her swimming into focus. This wasn't her bedroom. Heck, this wasn't even England. This was prehistoric Russia! She'd been leaning against a cave wall with a blanket draped tightly around her. It was only a shallow cave, offering some protection from the torrential wind howling outside. Close by was the fire, the crackling of charred wood offering warmth and solace. The boy rubbed his side where she'd kicked him, emitting a low grunt as the area smarted.

"Ben?"

"Welcome back," he said. "For a while there I thought you were going to die."

Taylor looked down at the blanket enveloping her. Despite that and the heat from the fire, she could feel the tendrils of ice clinging to her hair and the bitter frost biting at the exposed skin on her face. She peered over at Ben, who was crouching beside her. He had nothing but the clothes he was wearing. Even in the faint light, she could tell he was shivering.

She pried the blanket off and held it out. Ben shook his head. "C'mon, you're freezing. It's big enough for both of us."

Ben looked at her for a moment and then shuffled over, bringing the blanket about his own body.

"What happened?" Taylor asked.

Ben poked at the fire with a stick. "Went home, got my backpack. Already had one packed in case something like this happened. Came back here looking for you. You're lucky I did, you was asleep against a tree. If it wasn't for me you'd be dead."

Taylor bristled. "I was doing just fine without -"

"No, Taylor!" Ben interrupted, his voice rising. "You weren't doing _just fine_. This isn't a game! This is a real place, with real dinosaurs and real cold and real dangers. It's too easy to die here for you to go ragequitting all over the place. You need my help so don't deny it and don't act all tough and mighty."

Taylor rounded on him, her eyes narrowed in frustration. "I aint baggage."

"Noted," Ben said disinterestedly.

Taylor huffed and tried to get to her feet. She gripped the side of the cave wall for support, struggling to ignore the blistering airy feeling in her skull. Were the walls supposed to spin like that? She exhaled in determination and lifted herself up, then promptly collapsed back onto the ground. The movement within the cave caused snow to dislodge from the roof and fall onto them, into their clothes and their hair. She swiped blindly, desperate to get the freezing stuff off her skin. Another clump of snow landed on the fire.

Ben uttered a dismal groan as the fire fizzled and went out.

"Could've picked a better spot," Taylor grumbled.

Ben flashed her a dirty look. "Fine. I'll leave you there to freeze next time! If you stay uneaten long enough to freeze! Maybe then you won't go putting out my fires."

"Not my fault the fire went out!"

"Yes it is! Stop being such a bitch."

Taylor pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, her eyebrows low in bitterness. She watched quietly as Ben fought with the elements to get the fire going again. He had a smooth, black stick of something in one hand, and was whacking it ferociously with a knife in his other hand. Sparks emanated which each strike, but little else happened. She wanted to jibe at his fire-making ability, but bit back the remark.

"I'm not leaving without my dog," Taylor said.

Ben didn't respond. More time passed in silence as he tried again and again to resurrect the fire.

"Don't you have any matches?" Taylor asked after a while.

"No," Ben replied bluntly.

"Why not?"

"Because matches don't last nearly as long as flint does."

This surprised Taylor. "How long do you expect us to be here? Once we find Spratt and the portal we can go home."

Ben hesitated. "No," he said eventually. "We can't."

"Why not?" Taylor demanded.

"Because the portal is gone."

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_Over a year since my last update. You have no idea how sorry I am! I had writer's burnout for a long time, and am only just starting to get back into it. I've got so much muse to catch up on!  
_


	6. Chapter 5: It's Called Pangea

:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. **Chapter Five**

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"What d'you mean the portal's gone!" Taylor shrieked.

Ben let out a shout of joy as sparks erupted in the fire pit. He began placing twigs onto the tiny flame, not bothering to look at her as he replied. "As in it's not there anymore."

And suddenly Taylor remembered back to when she and two men were sliding down a sand dune toward a brilliant ball of light. It had never occurred to her that they could have just gone through the original portal she'd come through ... or that they couldn't have.

"They can disappear," she realised. "Oh God, we're stuck here forever!" With a heavy heart, she curled back into the blanket and sat there, staring silently at the flickering fire.

xxx

When Ben woke up, a strong shaft of sunlight was filtering through the mouth of the cave. The warmth of it on his skin was nothing short of miraculous. He let out a weary yawn, opening his heavy, tired eyes a crack.

A soft grunt beside him alerted him to another presence. Taylor was snuggled up against him. Her arms were closed toward her, with her curled hands resting up against his waist, and her cheek pressed against his shoulder. The blanket was wrapped around them both, and he noticed with surprise that one of his arms was hugging Taylor to him. Another grunt followed the steady rise and fall of her chest.

Ben's eyes moved to her face. It was odd seeing the frustratingly obstinate girl looking so peaceful and, well, innocent. Her nose twitched a bit, and she shifted her head so she could scratch her nose against Ben's arm without moving her own. She stopped halfway through and proceeded to snore again, her grunts somewhat muffled on account of her nose still being pressed against his arm. Ben pursed his lips together to suppress his laughter.

He looked over toward the fire to see it had gone out sometime during the night, and decided he better get up and figure out what to do. He gently lifted Taylor off him and laid her down, then stood up and exited the cave. Immediately the sunlight intensified and he breathed in the delicious scent of warm, dew-laced morning air. Most of the snow had melted away to reveal sporadic vegetation, but a layer of white still coated the ground.

Ben stretched his arms wide above his head, breathing deeply and revelling in how, despite the danger, he was in an incredibly remarkable place. A place that no one else had ever, or would ever, see. He wondered where exactly he was, and pictured a road overlaying the terrain, flanked by clothes shops, cafes and tall, intimidating skyscrapers. Humans jostled about, their cell phones pressed to their ears and their arms straining with the weight of shopping bags.

Suddenly the ground below Ben's feet shifted and he toppled backward. He edged out of the way just as a head popped up through the frosty soil. It was pale crème, with brown splotched across smooth skin. Its mouth jutted out into what looked like a beak. It opened its mouth and wailed at Ben. Then it scrambled out of the hole, its limbs flailing madly like some hydrophobic dog, and dashed past Ben and off down the hill.

Ben watched it waddle away, his eyes wide. He was just about to get to his feet when another animal exploded from the hole. Then another. And another. Several of the creatures climbed over the top of Ben as they toddled quickly after the first, and he had to roll out of the way to avoid being smothered. They were incredibly adorable, he had to admit, as they half-squawked-half-wailed and meandered all over the place.

He wracked his brain for a name. Diictodon was the most likely fit. _I wonder why they're above ground,_ he thought. _It should be too cold for them._

The answer appeared in an explosion of soil and snow. One of the diictodons, too slow getting away from the hole, was yanked viciously into the air by a set of powerful jaws. It squealed helplessly as incisors crushed down on it, spurting blood everywhere. The predator pulled itself out of the hole, revealing a thickset, furry body with long muscular limbs and thin, dagger-like digits. Large round eyes swivelled wildly in their sockets as the animal threw its head from side to side, tossing the diictodon about like a doll. It looked like a huge, hideous, tailless rat.

A scream near Ben caused the _Regisaurus jacobi_ to spin around, sending little pieces of mangled diictodon flying everywhere. Ben's blood ran cold as he saw its eyes lock onto Taylor. It dipped its head, dropped the diictodon and advanced toward her. Taylor's eyes were wide with fear as she retreated back into the cave. Ben looked around frantically, searching for a log or rock or something he could hit the giant rat-thing with, but there was nothing. He wondered if he could just tackle it; it was about the size of a German shepherd.

He was still judging what to do when the rat-thing ambled into the cave. He decided to just wing it and bolted over, ready to do something dramatic and probably stupid. Just as he reached the cave, panicking even more because he couldn't hear Taylor, the rat-thing backed hastily away, its head gesticulating furiously. It uttered a few shrieks and moans and pawed anxiously at its face, then shoved its snout into the snow, before turning and galloping off in the opposite direction.

Ben furrowed his brow in confusion. Taylor bounced out of the cave after the animal for a few metres. "Yeah, you better run!"

Ben walked up beside her. "I was about to save you, you know."

Taylor looked at him. "Well you did a pretty lousy job of it."

Ben couldn't explain the disappointment he felt at that. "What'd you even do?"

Taylor pointed to the hot coals left behind from the fire.

"Wow, that was clever," Ben said sincerely.

"'Course it was. I'm not daft," Taylor declared. "I can take care of myself."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Right. Must've forgotten." He went into the cave and grabbed the blanket and the backpack. He took out the water bottle and bent down to shovel snow into it. "I think we ought to get moving now before the next blizzard hits."

"Moving? Moving where? What about Spratt?"

"Spratt's obviously not in this area. We may as well start heading north; if we're as close to the poles as I think we are, it's going to get a lot colder. If we go northeast, we might be able to cross through India and find the inland coast."

"Cross through India? Where are we?"

"South Africa, I'm pretty sure."

Taylor frowned and tilted her head. "South Africa's nowhere near India."

Ben stood up and returned the water bottle to his backpack. "Pangea, Taylor. It's called Pangea. You should really read more."

Taylor huffed indignantly. "I read plenty," she lied. "Just kinda hard when I'm bein' chased by prehistoric animals all the time."

Ben smiled slightly. "Whatever. Come on, we've got a long way to go."

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_I try my best with the research but I know that this will never be 100% correct, so please bear with me on the scientific accuracy._


	7. Chapter 6: Dialogue Only

:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. **Chapter Six**

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_I wanted to try something different, so did the whole chapter with only dialogue._

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"Ben."

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

"Hi Hungry."

"I'm serious! I need food now or I'll die!"

"Taylor, there are no Mcdonalds 'round here."

"But there must be something edible! Just cause we're stuck in the Permian era doesn't mean there's no food at all, does it? What about fruit, and vegetables, and -"

"The Permian's not an era, it's a period."

"Dude, I don't care. I just want food."

"We're in the middle of a desert."

"Food."

"We're stuck in the past."

"Food."

"Surrounded by predators."

"Food."

"And snow."

"Food."

"And there's mountains ahead we have to climb."

"Food."

"Stop saying food!"

"...Food."

"Can't you say something other than food?"

"Which one of us d'you reckon will die first?"

"Alright if you don't shut up I will abandon you in your sleep."

"I miss Spratt."

"Don't start this again."

"SPRAAAATT! SPRRAAATTTT! WHERE ARE YOU, GIRL?"

"Shut up!"

"SPRAAAAAATTTTTT!"

"You are going to alert every predator in the area. Be quiet!"

"SPRRRAAAAATTT! SSSPPPRR-mmmphh!"

"EW! You licked me!"

"You covered my mouth!"

"For good reason!"

"Your hand tastes horrible."

"Maybe that's because we slept in a cave!"

"Ben."

"No."

"Ben ... Ben."

"Shut up."

"Beeeeeen."

"What?"

"I'm still hungry."

"Ugh."

"Come on, aren't you hungry too?"

"Yes, I'm starving."

"Then why can't we stop and look for soemthing to eat?"

"Because we need to get somewhere safe by nightfall, and we can survive weeks without food. You can't survive very long when your face is inside a gorgonopsid stomach."

"Do you reckon that tree over there has fruit?"

"No."

"What about that one?"

"No."

"That one?"

"No."

"Or that one?"

"That's the first tree you pointed to."

"I know, I was just seeing if you were paying attention."

"You're insufferable."

"What about that tree over there?"

"No. Wait. Maybe... no."

"You had me excited for a minute there."

"I know, I was just trying to annoy you."

"That was mean. And I've run out of trees."

"Of course you have, we're in a desert! I told you this already."

"But I'm hungry. Hey, can you hear that?"

"No, hear wh- Taylor? Where are you going? Come back here!"

"Listen! Listen!"

"Oh god you're gonna get us killed."

"Ahhh!"

"Great. Now she's disappeared."

"I'm down here."

"You're stuck in a hole ... fantastic."

"It's not a hole. It's a cave."

"You're stuck in a cave. Fantastic."

"I can hear water."

"It's probably your imagination."

"No, it's not. Come down here!"

"Are you crazy? I'm not jumping down into a cave-hole."

"Fine. Stay up there. I'm going to check it out."

"Taylor, wait. Taylor? ...Taylor?"

"AHHH!"

"Calm down, it's just me."

"I thought you weren't coming?"

"Well I can hardly let you go off spelunkin' by yourself, can I?"

"I can take care of myself."

"I know, I know, you ain't baggage. I get it."

"Good. Now can you hear it?"

"Yes, actually. It sounds like a river."

"I told you! Now come on, adventure awaits."

"I can barely see anything."

"Ow, you stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry."

"It's getting louder, we must be close."

"I can smell water now. And something else."

"Me too. What is it?"

"I don't know, but it smells familiar."

"The wall just disappeared."

"We must be in a cavern."

"It's too dark, I can't see."

"Hold on, I might have a torch in here."

"And you're only saying this now?"

"Shut up. Here you go."

"Thanks. Let there be light!"

"Wow, it's incredible!"

"It's awesome."

"It must be an old magma tunnel... probably from those mountains up ahead."

"Dammit, the torch went out."

"I can tell. Shake it."

"Hey, I hear something."

"That's me talking."

"No, something else. Scuffling. Oh my god, do you reckon it's Spratt?"

"What the hell would your dog be doing down here?"

"Well I can hear something. Spratt? Spratt, is that you!"

"Wait, I can hear it too."

"SPRATT?"

"Taylor, it's not your dog... It sounds too big."

"Well then... what is it?"

"I don't think we're alone in here..."

"Ben, I'm scared. Let's go back."

"I don't know where 'back' is. Turn the light on!"

"Oh my god I hear thumping noises."

"TAYLOR TURN THE LIGHT ON NOW!"

"I can't, I'm trying!"

"Give it to m- aaahhh!"

"Ben? ...Ben? ...Ben?"


	8. Chapter 7: Murphy's Law

:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. **Chapter Seven  
Murphy's Law  
**

* * *

The light flickered back into life. Taylor shone it around frantically, but there was no sign of Ben.

She was standing on a narrow rocky platform. Beneath her feet, the black water had retreated to a noiseless trickle. Huge, jagged stalactites bore down around the towering, rounded cavern, giving the sense of a great beasts' mouth. Dark shadows further ahead suggested the passage opened into more tunnels.

"Ben!" she yelled. "BEEEN!"

Silence. Taylor was completely alone.

For the first time since entering the anomaly, she felt true terror.

"Ben?" she said again, softly. She felt her legs tremble slightly, then give way. She sat unceremoniously on the cold hard ground, struggling to blink away the pools glistening in the corners of her eyes. She would not cry. Taylor Craig never cried.

What was she doing here? She was so far away from home. So remote that no amount of travelling would get her back. They would be trapped in this godforsaken place for the rest of their lives. And at the moment that didn't seem to be for very much longer. Would she ever find Spratt? Was Spratt even still alive? Was Ben? There was no Nick and Stephen to save her this time.

_"Oi, you! Can I come work with you when I leave school?"_

Well she'd certainly been naive to want that. This was a dreadful career choice. More like she was working to be professional food. For a dinosaur.

Was Steve missing her? Did he even realise she was gone?

Taylor sighed and straightened her shoulders. She better get up and do something. There was no point moping about. Searching for Ben seemed like the smartest thing to do. She rolled back on her heels and pushed herself up with her palms. Her body quivered and threatened to collapse again, but she quelled the trepidation. She was not afraid. That vacuum-like sensation in her chest that seized her muscles and sent icicles crawling down her spine, that wasn't fear. No it wasn't. That was... hunger, that's what it was. She was just hungry, not scared. She was definitely _not_ terrified to her wit's end.

With that thought gyrating through her mind, she crept along the tunnel, swishing the torch periodically to check her surroundings. She couldn't hear any sign of life; no breathing, no footsteps, no ferocious growling and ripping sounds.

Well, except for her own. Her own erratic breathing resonated along the empty chamber, seeming as frustratingly loud as a steam train.

"Ben?" she whispered.

No reply.

"Ben?" she repeated, louder.

To her amazement, a hoarse answer came from one of the tunnels. It wasn't verbal, just a long moan, and for a while Taylor stood there incredulously. But then the noise came again, and it was unmistakably human.

And it was coming from the other side of the stream.

Taylor closed her eyes and swallowed the knot of panic accumulating in her throat. She reopened her eyes, crouched down and peered over the edge. The watercourse was aggravatingly random - for the little amount of time she'd been there, it had alternated between a soft trickle and a fierce torrent a half dozen times. Crossing it would be unpredictable.

It appeared to be about three metres from bank to bank, and maybe two and a half metres between her and the water. When the water was low, a few of the matured bedrocks became exposed; they were fairly large, enough for her to stand on comfortably.

The river had just finished its latest surge. It was now or never.

"You can do this, girl," she said aloud to herself.

Taylor situated the torch in her mouth, grasped the edge tightly, then slid off the platform. Her feet dangled in the air for a few tentative seconds before she mustered the courage to let go. The force of the impact drove the air from her lungs. Freezing water lapped over her hands and feet, and sloshed up against her belly and sides. She gasped and clutched hopelessly at the slippery rock, struggling to inhale through the piercing cold that was blazing her skin.

Despite the tide being so low, the current was still viciously strong. She clung to the wall to stop herself from being thrown off the rock, and barely managed to pull herself into a sitting position. Moving with the speed of a snail, she began to inch her way delicately across the bedrock.

And then the light went out.

An involuntary shriek escaped Taylor's lips. Shaking from both fear and cold, she took the torch from her mouth and flicked the switch hopefully. Nothing happened. She lowered her head and let out a soft sob. The darkness pressed against her with tangible hostility, and somewhere in the distance there was a creak, heralding the return of the floodwaters.

Taylor's breath stuttered as she willed her muscles to move again.

After what seemed like an eternity, her hands reached out and touched the smooth surface of the opposite wall. She breathed a premature sigh of relief and cautiously hoisted herself to her feet. She trailed her fingertips along the wall, searching for a depression. Eventually she found one and pressed her right foot into it. After finding a couple more, she managed to lift herself high enough to clutch at the platform edge with both hands.

The sound of rushing water exploded out of nowhere. The current pitched dramatically, hurling violent sprays of water against the walls. Taylor waved her legs wildly, struggling to get a foothold before she was dragged under. She grappled at the ledge and, gathering every ounce of strength she had, hauled herself up over the edge of the platform just as the full force of the high tide emerged, rising over where she'd been just a moment before.

She sat there, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. She was drenched and freezing, and no longer bothered to repress the tears. After a few minutes of unrestrained crying, she tried the torch again. Light erupted from the small cylindrical object.

"Oh _now_ you work, you piece of crap," Taylor hissed.

The torchlight bounced off the walls of the cavern as she entered the tunnel off from the main one, illuminating deep scratches carved into the rockface. She tried not to imagine how big and sharp the claws must've been. Her breathing came short and fast, the fear pounding a migraine into her skull. The light wobbled as her hands shook. After what seemed a lifetime of navigating the passageways, she emerged into another cavern. This one was level, much smaller, and filled with columns.

"Ben?" she called, hoping that the cave's owner wasn't home.

A low growl greeted her as she took another step. Two yellow orbs appeared in the shadows beyond one of the columns. A dumpy muzzle followed, its lips curling up to reveal long canines, glistening menacingly in the torchlight. It had the body structure of a lizard, but with short, matted fur, and was enormous - the size of a lion. The animal padded forward, tilting its head upward to sniff the air through two simple slits in its face.

Taylor stumbled back into another column, her heart racing. How on earth was she supposed to fight off this thing?


	9. Chapter 8: Meanwhile

**:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. ****Chapter Eight**  
Meanwhile

* * *

The lizard was oblivious to its stalker. It continued about its day, snuffling through foliage for insects, wiggling its rear in the same fashion that its descendants would. The wind seemed to die slightly, but the lizard ignored it; it had just spotted a dragonfly alight on a branch up ahead, and slunk silently toward it.

Too late, the reptile heard the telltale crunch of soil and accompanying vibrations. Within a heartbeat it was finishing its death throe inside a set of jaws. The predator let out a hum of happiness; her first food in days!

A growl sounded somewhere in the distance, so the animal ambled off to consume her prize in the shelter of a nearby rock. The lizard tasted nothing like what she was used to; tough and bland, with an awful lot of bones to pick through. Still, it was better than nothing. With her hunger newly satiated, her stomach relented and ceased its violent rumbling.

The ground trembled. The animal leapt to her feet and peered downhill. Another creature was plodding along in her direction, its head swishing back and forth as it surveyed its surroundings. It was many times bigger than her; so much so that it could have squashed her with a single paw if it chose to. And she didn't want to wait around to find out. She turned and ran away as fast as her stubby legs could manage.

The sun was retreating from the sky by the time she found a body of water. It was only a faint trickle of cloudy liquid which fell over a thin layer of pebbles, but she was so thirsty she didn't care. She looked about her cautiously. Satisfied that nothing was about to jump out of nowhere and gobble her up, she crept over and stuck her tongue in. She was hot from travelling and the iciness of the water was deliriously pleasant. She lapped up as much as she could, and by the time she'd finished, her stomach was making faint sloshing noises as she moved.

A white speck landed on her nose and she leapt back in surprise. Another white speck floated by her eyes, then another. The animal tossed her head and stared at the sky, watching the snowflakes drift down. She bounded away, sniffing at everything in the hope it would lead her to someplace warm for the night.

She wandered for hours, unconsciously heading toward the towering peaks in the distance. An exasperated sigh escaped her; no matter how far she walked, those mountains never seemed to get any closer. She wasn't entirely sure what drew her to them, only that they looked like a good source of sustenance and shelter. And they were high; maybe if she got to the top of one, she would be able to see which way to go.

There was a scraping noise nearby, and a creature burst out of nowhere. It was small, about the same size as her, and had smooth, blotched skin and a pointy beak of a mouth. It paused and stared at her. She stared back, poised to bolt. The strange animal made a bizarre squeaking sound and retreated into a hole in the ground.

She watched it leave in shock, trying to gauge the situation. Eventually curiosity got the better of her and she padded over to the hole. She stuck her nose in and sniffed; the creature smelled of dirt and plants. A herbivore.

The snow was falling thicker now, and the burrow would provide ideal protection from the weather. She sat down and grunted, wondering whether the risk was worth it. The wind whistled around her and she shivered. Decision made.

She shouldered her way into the burrow. It was tighter than she'd expected, but after adjusting her eyes to the darkness, she soon found a section that she could fit in comfortably. The creatures watched her, not quite sure what to make of the intruder. Eventually they accepted her presence and bustled around her, vying for their own sleeping positions. She stretched her front paws out and rested her head on them, surrounded by the warm soft bodies of two dozen diictodon.

As Spratt watched the moon rise through the burrow opening, she let out a whine and hoped she'd find Taylor soon.

* * *

_If anyone's reading this, please review. Let me know if you actually like the story or if you have some constructive criticism. It's rather difficult to find the muse to write another chapter when only one or maybe two people give feedback._


	10. Chapter 9: High Tide

******:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. ****Chapter Nine  
**High Tide

* * *

Debris fell from the ceiling as the moschorhinus thundered after Taylor. Flashes of light bounced off random parts of the tunnels, not aimed at anything in particular; just away.

The girl emerged into the main cavern. Amongst the angry growling from behind her, she barely picked out a familiar creaking sound. There was only one way to go now - down.

With just a single bound, the moschorhinus leapt out of the tunnel at her. She threw herself off the ledge as it did so, and they both toppled into the trench. Intense pain swept through her body, clearing her lungs of all air. She gasped, struggling to recover her breath. Willing every protesting muscle to _move_, she crawled to the edge and hugged the furthermost rock with all of the little strength she had left.

The moschorhinus, unfazed by the fall, casually turned to face her, lips curled in a deep snarl. It stretched out a paw and flexed the digits; the claws flashed forebodingly in the torchlight. The muscles rippled beneath the skin as it lowered its front legs in preparation to pounce.

The snarl turned into a yelp as the floodwaters appeared. There was no warning; one moment the stream was seeping harmlessly amongst the bedrock, and the next moment a tsunami was smashing all around them. It swept the moschorhinus's legs out from underneath it. It crashed to the ground and tumbled over several times in the current before regaining a foothold, which lasted all of three seconds before it lost traction again.

For one brief instant, both beings' eyes connected. The girl saw no danger or malice in the beast's eyes; there was nothing there but regret and pure terror. A thump and a heart-wrenching howl of pain later, the creature was gone.

Taylor clung to her rock tighter as the torrent hammered against her. Water rushed up her nose, mouth, eyes, burning. The force of wave after wave against her skin stung like thousands of tiny daggers. The current sought viciously to pull her away, drag her under, send her hurtling after the moschorhinus. It was cold, so unbelievably icy, that violent shivering alone threatened to give her up to the flood.

The tide rose quickly beyond her height, and she was completely underwater. Still out of breath from running and falling, she couldn't gather enough breath to withstand the air deprivation. Within seconds, she involuntarily inhaled water, and subsequently let go of the rock.

As fortune would have it, the floodwaters retreated at that moment, leaving Taylor sprawled across the rocks in a sodden heap some twenty metres downstream. She groaned miserably and coughed the water from her lungs, not wanting to move again. Ever. She could just wait until the tide came back, and then this desolation would be over. Peace.

But no, she couldn't do that.

In the last two days, Ben had continuously sacrificed his safety for her and saved her life twice. He had followed her through the portal into a very dangerous world; something he never had to do. For the first time she considered just where she would be without him - dead on the first day, most likely. And then Spratt would never be found. Even after all the horrible things she had said to him, he still stuck by her like some sort of guardian. She owed it to him to keep trying.

Having lost the torch, she had no idea where she was or which direction she ought to go in. She crawled to the side, praying it was the _right_ side, and got slowly to her feet. Her legs quivered spasmodically, threatening to buckle, but she kicked them into the wall and hauled herself up onto the ledge. It was perhaps the hardest thing she had ever done in her entire life. She lay there by the edge, staring into the black abyss as the sounds of a new flash flood reverberated throughout the cavern. Surely she could just close her eyes and rest for a while... her lids were so extraordinarily heavy.

_No. _She would not fall asleep. She had to find Ben. Whatever it took. She used the cavern wall to heave herself into a wobbly standing position, then stumbled off into the darkness.

"Ben?" she screamed hoarsely. Her throat was sandpaper. "BEN!"

Silence.

Then...

"Taylor."

The reply was impossibly faint, and she wondered if she was imagining it. It was barely a whisper, echoing off the walls to reach her. She continued yelling out as she walked, and sometimes the voice would respond with her name, becoming gradually louder.

Despite everything, Taylor felt a rush of joy. He was still alive. They both were.

"Marco," she called.

There was a half-hearted laugh and then, "Polo."

Taylor felt a rush of vertigo and collapsed, giggling helplessly as her head swum with stars. She was so weak that just the idea of standing again made her nauseous.

"Taylor?" Concern laced his voice. "Taylor, are you alright?" It sounded much closer this time.

"M'good. M'all good," she cried, although her eyelids were lowering gradually as she fought off exhaustion.

She reached out and touched the smooth exterior of a column. This was the moschorhinus's cavern. Ben must be nearby. In fact, when she paused her own erratic, rasping breath, she could make out his.

Taylor veered to the left and crawled - literally - toward the noise, only stopping when she felt a warm, thick liquid cover her hands and knees. The stench of metal invaded her nostrils and she shuddered. There was blood all over the floor.

Several seconds later she toppled onto something. Something warm and squashy. "Ben!" she exclaimed, her voice slurring. "You're bleeding everywhere! But you're gon' be okay, kay, 'cause'm here. I fought off... creature thing... I saved you this time. I'ma rescue you now. This time."

And with that, her head dropped onto Ben's chest and she fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 10: Cave of Columns

******:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. ****Chapter Ten  
**Cave of Columns  


* * *

"Taylor, turn the light on now!" Ben yelled.

The air near him seemed to become denser, as though something large was skulking mere centimetres away. His heart hammered wildly in his chest. He couldn't see Taylor, but he could hear her bashing the torch frantically against the walls.

"I can't, I'm trying!" she replied agitatedly.

"Give it to m-"

Ben was cut short as sudden, extreme pain rocketed through his body. Daggers slashed into his waist, jerking him backwards. He screamed, kicking his legs madly in a desperate attempt to escape. The blades scored deeper and twisted, lifting him off the ground. He was yanked up and down as the assailant sprinted away. Ben barely caught a glimpse of light before he was dragged into a side tunnel. Taylor was calling his name but the agony wracking through him made it impossible to reply.

After what seemed an eternity of zigzagging through tunnels and occasionally smacking into the ground, the creature stopped walking and dropped him. He sprawled out on the ground, feeling the wounds pump out wave after wave of fresh flood. He reached down and gingerly touched his waist, then instantly regretted it. It was pitch black in here too, so he didn't even know what had taken him. He knew it had fur though; it had brushed against him while it moved.

Ben felt peculiar; like his head was made of air, and the ground was tilting below him. He jumped when a snarl sounded directly above his ear, bringing about another cry of distress as the scratches smarted. His cheeks were damp from tears and he noticed he was shaking violently; from fear or blood loss, he didn't know.

There was an unusual noise, like high heels clacking against concrete, and after considering it he realised what it was; the animal was pacing. It was pacing swiftly, light-footed against the rock, as though uneasy about something. What could it possibly be nervous about?

"Just kill me already," Ben mumbled quietly.

The animal growled a threat in response.

And then a voice, albeit faint and possibly just his imagination, drifted into the cave.

He tried, hopefully, to sit up, but after almost blacking out from the ensuing wave of pain, he gave up. "Taylor," he yelled as loudly as he could, which didn't seem to be very loud at all. She probably wouldn't even hear him.

His hand, which he had instinctively pressed against the lesions, was saturated in blood and useless. He knew he would have to stop the bleeding if he were to survive. Remembering that he was still wearing the backpack, he shrugged it off as gently as he could and rummaged blindly until he found the first aid kit. Ignoring the blistering pain that came with moving, he clipped it open and found a bandage, unravelling it impatiently.

Now came the daunting task of actually wrapping himself. Ben tore the already-frayed sleeve off his jacket and shoved it into his mouth, then lifted his back off the ground so he could roll the bandage beneath him. His cries were muffled by the sleeve as he repeated the process again and again, with every bandage in the kit, until his torso and abdomen were plump with gauze. As he pinned the last into place, he uttered a happy, "Yes!"

The animal, disapproving of its victim's jollity, padded over and cuffed its paw across Ben's face and down his throat. He yelped as the rough skin grated his own, jagged as sandpaper. Spots of blood dotted his face, and a new laceration on his neck suddenly made breathing difficult.

"Ben?"

The voice was unbelievably close now. A beam of light appeared out of nowhere and illuminated the cave, allowing Ben his first sight of where he was; a low cave rich with thin, striated columns. He tried to call out, to warn her, but the words gurgled uselessly in his injured throat.

He watched in horror as the animal prowled out of the shadows and toward Taylor. She stepped back into one of the columns, eyes wide as saucers. A heartbeat later she turned and raced out of the cave with the animal charging after her.

Ben was bathed in darkness once again.

His heart was a lump in his throat. That's probably why the beast was so restless; it was waiting to dispatch her too. Now they'd both be creature fodder.

He struggled to get to his feet, to get up and go after them, but every movement brought more blood, and within minutes his eyes were spinning and he had no idea which way was up or which way was down.

He wasn't sure how much time passed. It could have been seconds, it could have been days. Ben found he didn't really care; he was just floating somewhere in space, outside of time. Light and free as air.

"Ben!"

Several long seconds passed before Ben registered the noise. He tilted his head groggily, mumbling something that even he couldn't understand.

"Taylor," he said loudly, without actually comprehending the situation. He could feel the word shred his throat.

She kept yelling his name and sometimes, in spots of vague lucidity, he would reply. At one point she instead said, "Marco."

Ben couldn't remember what the statement meant, but a feeble chuckle resulted anyway. He found himself replying with "Polo" and then wondered why.

There was a thump and a fit of hysterical giggling. Ben jolted back to reality, eyes wide and coherent. The memories of torn skin, glints of light on golden eyes and sobbing into a sleeve as he bandaged himself returned. As did the terror.

"Taylor?" he called anxiously. "Taylor, are you alright?"

"M'good," came her voice, sounding mere metres away. "M'all good."

Soft thumps and splattering noises followed, and then a surge of pain as something landed on him. His mind instantly imagined the creature had returned to complete the slaughter, but human breath in his ear reassured him it was just Taylor. It was different though; more laboured and erratic. She was also in a bad way. And completely soaked.

"Ben!" she said clumsily. "You're bleeding everywhere! But you're gon' be okay, kay, 'cause'm here. I fought off... creature thing... I saved you this time. I'ma rescue you now. This time."

Her weight dropped onto his chest - the uninjured side, thankfully - and she ceased talking. Panic gripped him; was she dead? He poked her aggressively, desperate to get some sign of life from her. He sighed in relief as she grunted. She was just unconscious.

The full impact of her words struck him. Fought off the creature? Did that mean it was dead, or that it had just fled? How could she possibly have overpowered an animal that was many times bigger than her and which had razor-sharp butchery equipment? Ben hoped that she meant the animal wasn't going to just creep back and kill them later.

That unearthed the next problem... They were both clearly unfit to move, so how were they going to get out of this dismal labyrinth alive?


	12. Chapter 11: 2008

******:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. ****Chapter Eleven  
**2008

* * *

The professor struck the rock again, satisfied when it split cleanly down the middle. He picked up a half and examined it with a hand lens. Sedimentary fossiliferous limestone... but nothing interesting. He sighed in disappointment and tossed the rock behind him. He knew there was something here - something big. It was just a matter of finding it.

The sun was high in the sky, bathing the land in its warm golden glow. The man's skin prickled uncomfortably and he rubbed at it, regretting having skipped the sunscreen that morning. Sweat pooled on his top lip until he could taste salt; he exhaled forcibly in an attempt to get rid of it, which only resulted in blowing his hair into his eyes.

He needed a haircut.

Giving up and just wiping his sleeve all over his face to remove the sweat, he decided to retreat to the shade for a break. The frenetic whirring of the site's single fan greeted him as he entered the tent, followed by a welcome breeze of cold air.

"Howzit, Doc?"

The teenage girl's mouth opened and closed dramatically as she loudly chewed her gum. Her feet were up on the desk, enveloped by purple stiletto boots, while her hands, spotted with dangly gold bangles and fluro beads, clutched a celebrity magazine to her chest - which was sporting an expensive-looking puffy blouse. Her eyes were low, weighed down by a mass of cyan eyeshadow and thick mascara.

The professor shot her a frustrated glance and dropped into a nearby chair. "I told you not to call me that, Katrina."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine then, _Christopher_." She turned her gaze back to the magazine and flicked a page emphatically. "I'm bored. This place is hot and boring."

"Maybe you wouldn't be so bored if you came out and helped dig."

Katrina made a face. "Ew, no. Then I'd get my new boots all grubby. And I'd be, like, in the sun. And sweat. Sweat's gross."

"So you're just going to sit here for the rest of the excavation and mope?"

"Hey I didn't even want to come here, remember. Rolling around in dirt in the middle of a desert ain't my idea of fun. Look." She turned the magazine around and pointed to a picture of a stick-thin model strutting in a lampshade. "Karen Millen is having a sale tomorrow, and I won't be there! I swear, ever since Mum started dating you, it's just ruined my social life. Imagine having to tell people your possible stepfather digs up bones for a living."

"Always were a pleasant one, weren't ya, sweetheart?" A colossal man flung the flaps of the tent apart and stepped inside. He was well over six foot with arms the size of tree trunks. He walked straight over to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer.

The girl stood up with an indignant huff and stormed out of the tent.

"Drinking already, Ed?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Gotta to stay sane. The damn new kid's gotten his head stuck in the tarp bag again. I swear I'm gonna toss 'im off the cliff in a sec."

Chris couldn't help but laugh. "He's young and enthusiastic, he'll calm down eventually."

Ed just grunted and downed the bottle.

They both turned their heads in surprise as someone exploded into the tent. The newcomer tripped on his own feet and toppled with a _crash!_ into the desk. Notebooks and pens flew everywhere.

"Jesus, boy, where'd you learn to walk? You broke me damn files," Ed hollered. He hurried over to the desk and began collecting the fallen stationary.

The teenager leapt to his feet, ignoring the brawny man, and turned to Chris, eyes so wide they were practically popping out of his head. "Professor, you've got to see this. You won't believe it!" And with that, he raced back out.

Leaving Ed to his grumblings about youth, Chris followed after the kid, suddenly filled with excitement. By the time he caught up, the student and another professor, Anne, had already extracted whatever it was from the surrounding rock.

"What is it?" Chris asked eagerly.

Anne held the item out to him. "You tell me."

Chris took it from her. His brow furrowed in confusion, and then rose in disbelief. He could only think of one word. "Impossible."

...

"Cutter! Temple!"

The two men turned around to see Lester striding toward them, his nostrils flaring.

Connor paled slightly upon seeing his boss's 'everyone-must-die' expression. "Whatever it is I didn't do it!" he declared.

Lester stopped and eyed Connor. "Well evidently, you idiot."

Nick raised an eyebrow, fighting to suppress the grin that was creeping onto his face. "How can we be of assistance, boss?" he asked.

Lester thrust a stack of photos at the blonde man. "Look at these."

Nick casually flicked through the images, seemingly unfazed. Connor, on the other hand, was less subtle.

"Oh my god," he exclaimed. "Oh my god. That's... no, it can't be. It is... is it?"

"Yes," Lester said. "Found in two hundred and fifty million year old rock in South Africa. Now tell me, genius, how did it get there, hm? Any ideas?"

"Well obviously someone-" Connor began.

"Obviously!" Lester interrupted. "Now tell me _how_ someone managed that, then. Our job is to stop the public knowing about the anomalies,and then this happens. So much for secrecy! What's going to happen when this gets out?"

"Calm down, Lester," Nick said evenly. "Just get Jenny to pull some strings and confiscate it. No one will ever know. What's this?"

Lester peered at the photo Nick was referring to. "They did a lot of fancy words and worked out what the original would've looked like."

Nick stared at it in amazement. "Impossible. I know this person."

"Oh please tell me it's not another psychotic time-travelling ex-wife," Lester beseeched.

"No," Nick said. "Tell you what, though. She ain't baggage."


	13. Chapter 12: Daylight

**********:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. ****Chapter Twelve**  
Daylight

* * *

Taylor awoke to darkness. She reached her arms out blindly, seeking the light switch beside her bed. It took awhile before she realised it wasn't there, and that she wasn't in her bed. Something crinkled and she ran her hand over the aluminium blanket, remembering with a jolt where she was.

She felt the ground; stone. Yep, she was still in the cave. It hadn't all just been a harmless nightmare then. Except she didn't remember getting the blanket... Ben must've put it around her. Ben! She mentally slapped herself for falling asleep while he'd been bleeding to death.

She touched something soft and coarse at the same time, and retracted her hand in confusion. Convincing herself it wasn't another beast trying to make her lunch, she stroked it again, and after a while of pondering she decided it was a bandage. That meant that Ben had bandaged himself here in the dark, undoubtedly incoherent from blood loss, while being hounded by that animal.

_He must've been so scared_, she thought. She felt his neck, trying to remember how to check for a pulse. Eventually she found the faint throbbing of a vein and sighed in relief. He was alive! Now she just had to get him out of there. How the hell was she going to do that? The only way out she knew of was across the watercourse... and there was no way Ben would be able to traverse that in his condition.

Maybe there was another way... after all, the moschorhinus had dragged Ben in here, and as big as it was, it didn't seem likely it could jump across the ravine with his weight.

Remembering how Ben had warded off the gorgonopsid, she fumbled around randomly until she found his camera in the backpack. The flash illuminated the entire cavern, and for a split second Taylor could see again.

Ben shifted and groaned. "Taylor?" he said blearily.

She knelt down. "I'm going to go find a way out," she explained. "Stay here." She made to get up again, but his hand shot out and gripped her's.

"Wait, you'll get lost," he said. "There's paracord in the... in the bag. Give me one end and tie the other to yourself."

"Good idea." She found the cord and knotted the end through the tongue of her shoe, then handed the coil to Ben. "I'll be back soon."

Standing up again, she held her arms out, palms open, and felt her way along the wall. Using the camera flash as an intermittent torch, she meandered aimlessly through the tunnels, hoping for something miraculous.

After perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, her foot was yanked out from beneath her and she faceplanted. She flung her hands over her head, waiting in panic for jaws to close around her. Seconds passed before she realised that it had just been the rope running out. She backtracked until she found the main cavern, then untied her foot and proceeded north.

Finally she found what she was looking for; the channel was high enough - at least five or six metres from the water - that it had escaped erosion, and a thin bridge connected the ledges. She leant against the wall and ran her hands through her hair, laughing in relief. They just might get out of this goddamn place alive after all.

She found where she'd left the rope and followed it back to the cave with the columns. Snapping a photo when she entered revealed Ben sitting glumly in the corner, staring at the ceiling with miserable eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat, seeing for the first time just how much dried blood stained his clothes and the ground around him.

He yelped and blinked haplessly at the sudden burst of light, then spoke, voice filled with cautious optimism. "Did you find a way out?" he asked.

"Yep!" she announced. "It's a fair way up though, you've got a lot of walking to do. Can you stand?"

"Maybe," Ben answered non-commitally.

Taylor hooked Ben's arms around her shoulders and held his weight as he struggled to his feet. After much wincing and squeaks of pain, he managed to stand. He exhaled and took a shaky step forward, gasping at the shockwave trembled through his body.

"You right?" Taylor asked.

"Y-yeah," he said quietly. "I'm just... going to be really slow."

"Take your time."

"Really? That doesn't sound like you. Who are you and what did you do with Taylor?" Ben grunted.

Taylor rolled her eyes, then realised doing so lost its effect when they were both blind. "I'm rolling my eyes," she stated.

She stayed with him patiently as he hobbled along, keeping an arm around him as he leant against her. It must've been at least an hour before they reached the end of the rope, at which point Taylor gathered it back up and stuffed it unceremoniously into the backpack.

Upon reaching the bridge, which was no more than a foot wide, they decided that it was far too dangerous to try and walk across. She helped Ben get onto his hands and knees - which was notably more painful than getting him to stand - and listened anxiously as he crawled across. After hearing his cry of glee at reaching the other side, she edged across easily and they continued the long journey back to their starting point.

Seeing the faint shaft of sunlight was enough to bring both kids to tears. They stared up at the hole Taylor had tumbled through an eternity ago. The sky was a cacophony of dark blue and pale pink, still dotted with thousands of twinkling stars. The rich scent of morning reached them, along with the rumblings of distant animals emerging from their slumber.

Taylor scrambled up out of the hole and threw the rope down to Ben. He tied it around himself; Taylor pulled it while he climbed. They fell back on the ground, chests heaving with exhaustion.

"Freedom!" Taylor cried.

"Next time, I suggest we skip the spelunking," Ben panted.

"Deal," Taylor said. She sat up and looked around, searching for someplace they could use for shelter. Frost lay thick on the ground and the air was bitterly cold; as she spoke her breath froze midair and dissipated.

She spotted a collection of boulders downhill and pointed them out to Ben. He nodded and they trekked toward them. After scoping the area to ensure there were no hidden surprises, Taylor led Ben beneath an overhang, out of the weather. He exhaled gratefully as he sank to the ground, hand instinctively moving to his waist.

"Alright, I'm fixing you up," Taylor announced. She opened the first aid kit and stared at it blankly, wondering what the heck she was supposed to do.

Watching confusion cloud her face, Ben took the kit off her. He pulled out a packet of something and handed it to her. "Antiseptic. Good idea, Taylor," he said, a tiny hint of amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"Of course. I knew that." She looked at the wipes and then at the red-soaked gauze covering Ben's abdomen. "Am I reapplying those bandages? They look pretty nasty."

Ben peered down and shrugged. "I guess. I used them all up so it's the only ones we have. Don't really have a choice."

Taylor unpinned them. "You'll have to lean forward." Ben obeyed as she unravelled the dressings.

She felt physically sick seeing the extent of his injuries. Two lacerations, presumably bite marks, formed horrifically large semicircles; one around his bellybutton and another on his back. Smaller gashes opened up from them, appearing like tiny river channels, from when he'd been tossed around and dragged. His neck also had a deep scratch, running from his chin to his collarbone, though thankfully it wasn't near the jugular. She didn't dare count the amount of cuts dotting his face.

After applying the antiseptic, cringing when Ben cried out from the harsh stinging, she rewrapped the bandages.

"I'm going to go find us food," she said. Without waiting for an answer, she fled the shelter, unable to bear watching him suffer anymore.

Understanding that she'd never find something decent like fruit, she resorted to picking insects from nearby foliage. She filled the canteens with snow and returned to Ben.

She offered him the insects. "It's not five star, but its protein."

He took some of the squirming critters and made a face. After a second's hesitation, he shoved them all in his mouth at once, chewed, and swallowed.

Taylor stared at her meal, nausea bubbling in her throat. She was absolutely starving, but still found this disgusting. Finally, after gathering enough willpower, she followed Ben's lead. She wretched and flailed her hands, fighting the urge to vomit it back up. She shook her head violently, eyes squeezed shut, until the ghastly taste retreated.

"Tastes like chicken," she lied darkly.

"Taylor."

"What?"

"There's a beetle in your hair."

Taylor screamed and hurled the tiny creature outside. "I hate this place!" she wailed. "Stop laughing, it's not funny!"

"Yes it is," Ben insisted.

Taylor folded her arms and huffed, pointedly ignoring the grin on his face.

"Hey, Taylor."

"What?"

"Thanks."

She looked up in surprise. "For what?"

"For everything. You stopped that animal from killing me, and then you practically carried me out. You saved my life."

Taylor glanced at him. "S'okay. We even now?"

Ben smiled. "We're even now." He continued staring her for a few seconds longer before turning his attention to finding the blanket. He pulled it out and laid it over them both. "If you don't mind I'm going back to sleep."

"Good idea, you're exhausted. I'll keep watch."

He mumbled something and closed his eyes.

Taylor watched him. _He has really long eyelashes_, she thought.

Her right hand moved subconsciously to her left wrist to finger her mother's gold bracelet, something she always did when she sought reassurance. Except she touched only skin. She peered down at her wrist, realising that she'd lost the bracelet somewhere in the caves. Tears glistened quickly in her eyes; she didn't bother to repress them this time. That had been all she had left of her mother, all she had left of home... and now it was gone too.


	14. Chapter 13: Good as Gold

**************:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. ****Ch**apter Thirteen  
Good as Gold

* * *

"This better be important, Jenny, I'm a busy man."

"But Cutter was right about that bracelet that was found."

Lester rounded on her. "You know I'm getting rather sick of him being right all the time," he hissed.

"Taylor Craig was the little girl that was trapped in the Silurian with him and Stephen," Jenny explained. She shoved a pile of papers at Lester. "Three months ago her and her stepfather moved to Gloucestershire. Four days after moving, the stepfather reports her missing, along with her dog. Police assume she ran away from home, but at present she still hasn't been found."

"This is all very fascinating, Jenny, but-"

"Their new house was up the road from the Forest of Dean."

Lester stopped walking.

"Not only that," Jenny continued, thrusting yet another stack of files at him. "The day the first anomaly was discovered, Abby went to a house after a woman named Mary Trent called the zoo about an unusual lizard her son Ben found. That lizard turned out to be Rex, and Ben rambled on about seeing the past to Cutter and Abby. Mary claims that after that he became completely obsessed with conspiracies and time portals, and would spend all his spare time in the Forest of Dean. He went missing the same day that Taylor did."

Lester glared at the reports as she spoke. "So you're saying that some nasty creature is going around devouring children who've seen anomalies before?"

"Not exactly... I'm saying that they most likely went looking for the Forest of Dean anomaly, and found it."

"And went through it?" Lester added.

"Yes."

"And now they're trapped there."

"Yes."

"Absolutely wonderful," he said sarcastically. "What are the chances they're still alive?"

"Not high," Jenny admitted. "It's possible that Taylor just lost the bracelet, but it's also possible that the reason it was fossilised is because, well..."

"I don't need gruesome details... But why the hell did the ADD not go off when that anomaly opened?" Lester snapped.

"It did. Except it was only open for two hours and seventeen minutes, and by the time the team got there it had already closed."

"Ugh. What a mess." Lester closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. After several deep breaths, he reopened them. "Right, I want you to invent a cover story for the bloody palaeontologists who found the bracelet. Then I want you to stay away from the kids' guardians, and make sure everyone else does too. If they remember we were involved with the previous incidents, all hell will break loose. Let them think they just ran away." He began walking again.

"So you just want Mary and Steve to languish without knowing what happened to their children?" Jenny asked in astonishment, her heels clapping loudly against the linoleum as she followed Lester.

"Would you rather try to explain that all those kids' stories about dinosaurs and time travel were true, and that they're probably dead somewhere in a prehistoric era?"

"Well we have to do something," Jenny insisted. "They may still be alive, maybe we can save them."

"The answer is no, Jenny. No rescue missions, no martyrs. Not only do we not know what time they're in, but we do not have the equipment to reopen to that time anyway. They chose to go traipsing through an anomaly after knowing how dangerous they were; let them deal with it."

With that he walked away, leaving Jenny glowering after him.

* * *

_Tiny filler chapter, sorry. I was seriously considering having Jenny say that Lucien had also gone missing, because I want to fit him into the story somehow (the high school boys Darren and Steve will probably not be in this story, I have their own story planned), but I could not for the life of me think of a role for him without him being a pointless third wheel. If anyone has suggestions (because I know earlier on there were several requests for adding Lucien) please let me know!_

_Also let me know what you think about a story project that follows Helen's version of the series. I've had this project planned for ages and occasionally add to it, but seeing how many readers I've lost lately I'm not sure whether it's worth it to continue it.  
_

_P.S. I think FanFiction's been skipping alerts for some of the chapters. If you feel you've missed something, you probably have.  
_


	15. Chapter 14:  The Return of Spratt

**************:¨·.·¨:  
`·.. ****Ch**apter Fourteen  
The Return of Spratt  


* * *

_This chapter is dedicated to two people:  
Firstly to Scho (now known as Dust in Dreams) again, because it's her fault that I'm now naming chapters and her title suggestion is finally here! She also invented the Put Random Things On Your Head Game, and is from Australia, so clearly she's just awesome anyway.  
Secondly to my new beta reader, Danielle. She's not actually on FanFiction because I know her IRL but she's epic regardless. It's thanks to her I have less grammatical errors and the sentences make more sense now._

* * *

"Just a dream," Taylor repeated, pushing the sodden hair back from Ben's clammy forehead.

Over a year had passed since entering the anomaly. Three hundred and ninety-six days, to be exact. It had taken nearly two months for Ben's wounds to heal enough to allow travelling. The only physical remnant of that terrible night was the vermillion scars that crisscrossed his body, though he relived it every time he closed his eyes.

Ben twitched a bit as she stroked his head, but didn't wake. He stopped yelling and relaxed into a more peaceful sleep. Taylor smiled slightly and cast her gaze outside the cave mouth, where a soft glow was beginning to peek out from beyond the horizon.

Their new abode was rather silent, especially this time of day; Ben had navigated them through the mountains and the deserts to a narrow peninsula of prehistoric India, where large predators were rare. An abundance of amphibians and early mammals provided food, and meandering channels of dirty but fresh water were always nearby. It was only an hour's hike to the coast, where they could forage for brachiopods and sponges, and lazily chase each other in the black sand dunes.

They had only been there for two weeks, but Taylor already saw it as a stable home, and found that she wouldn't mind staying there for a while. It was uncomplicated; nothing like the twenty-first century. The only thing that Taylor hated was that they had never found Spratt. After six months of calling haplessly for the little terrier, she'd accepted that her best friend was more than likely dead, and given up hope that she would ever be found.

The weight on her lap shifted as Ben rolled over and nestled his face into the bed of fern leaves that cushioned the ground. Taylor watched his side rise and fall for a few minutes before deciding to get up.

A soft breeze rustled the sparse foliage that enveloped the fissure they were using as shelter; an insect of some sort hummed in annoyance and flew away. The air was cool but not cold - it was a world of difference from when they'd first entered the Permian. Being much farther from the poles, and amidst the Paleo-tethys ocean, the temperature averaged around twenty degrees; even though winter was just ending, it never dropped below ten or so. Shades of grey were lining the horizon to the west, heralding a storm later in the day.

A chill ran down Taylor's spine as a sound, so faint it was barely audible, caught her attention. She froze, her muscles like ice, and strained her ears in an attempt to hear the yapping again. When it didn't come a second time, she concluded that it was her imagination, though her heart remained involuntarily heavy with painful optimism.

"'Mornin," came a voice behind her. A figure moved into her peripheral vision and stretched its arms with a loud yawn. "Why d'you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Heard one, not seen one," Taylor corrected.

Ben raised an eyebrow questioningly but she ignored him; she needed something to keep her mind off the dog, or lack thereof. "Let's go to the beach. Now." Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the backpack and marched away.

He watched her with narrowed eyes, clouded by confusion. What on earth had gotten into her? He wanted to ask, but knew better than to cross her in a bad mood, so he remained quiet and trailed behind.

They made the trek in almost complete silence; Ben tried a few times to make conversation, but it was like chatting with a brick wall. The wind was strong at the top of the dunes, and the jet-black particles of sand flew up around their faces. The sky had turned a deep charcoal, and veins of lightening were flashing in the distance. A few frosty beads of rain were spitting down. Taylor persisted until they were in a bay they frequented in better weather, surrounded on all sides by the steep insurmountable dunes.

Ben choked on a mouthful of grit and glared at Taylor. "What's the idea making us come here? You could tell a storm was coming from the shelter! Now we're gonna be stuck out here!" When she continued to ignore him, he raised his voice. "What's your problem today?"

She sat down on a rock and looked at him, eyes poignant. "I miss Spratt."

Three simple words and Ben's gut was churning with guilt. He had insisted they travel as far as possible, over eight thousand kilometres from the anomaly site; it was because of him they'd never had a chance of finding Spratt. It had taken him weeks to understand just how close Taylor was to her pet - but by then it was too late to rectify his mistake. The dog was dead and it was his fault.

Ben sighed. "Taylor," he began. "I'm sor-"

He was interrupted by a splash. Both kids gazed at the ocean, which by now had violent white waves crashing over the shoreline. A narrow face was peering out of the water. It resembled an enormous gharial, but had smoother skin, like an amphibian.

"What is that?" Taylor asked.

"It's a mesosaur. Don't worry, they don't leave the water."

As soon as he spoke the words, the animal lifted its body above the surface and lumbered onto the shore a few metres away. It opened its mouth wide, revealing a cavern of jagged ivory teeth, and stared at them with small astute eyes.

"That looks like leaving the water to me," Taylor hissed.

"It's just basking," Ben suggested.

"Basking? There is no sun! It looks hungry..."

A deep rumble erupted from the creature's throat. It plodded forward, swishing the colossal tail behind it threateningly. Ben and Taylor backed up against the cliff face, watching it in panic. It launched forward on its back legs, snapping at the air in front of them. Taylor squealed and ran sideways along the beach, with Ben close behind. The mesosaur pursued, surprisingly swift for such a large animal. Taylor stopped suddenly; Ben collided into her and they both toppled over.

"Why you stopping?" Ben exclaimed frantically.

Taylor didn't reply, just continued staring ahead. Ben's heart sank as he followed her gaze. The storm had washed away the only path back up the dunes.

The mesosaur caught up and was growling loudly, its head tilted back and mouth open in anticipation. It snapped at Ben again; he barely managed to stumble out of the way to avoid the great jaws from duplicating the wounds in his torso. Awful memories of the moschorhinus blazed through his mind.

They were being backed up the beach, and had nowhere else to run. They were trapped.

"I don't wanna die," Taylor howled. She squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed Ben's hand.

A clap of thunder roared overhead and then another sound - one achingly familiar - echoed around the bay. Taylor opened her eyes in disbelief. Ben's mouth was hanging open in astonishment, his gape fixed on the figure atop the dunes.

The tiny animal skidded down and launched herself at the mesosaur. With a resolute yap, she clung onto its face with clenched claws and proceeded to gnaw at the creature's left eye ridge. It grumbled viciously and thrashed its head, desperately trying to rid itself of the fuzzy nuisance.

Taylor, recovering from the shock, bounded over to the fracas. "Spratt!" she hollered, her eyes glistening with the onset of stunned tears.

Spratt relaxed her grip momentarily to glance happily at her owner. The mesosaur took the opportunity to unbalance and seize the dog. Spratt let out an almighty yelp as the huge jaws clamped around her hind leg, followed by the sickening crunch of bone.

Taylor screamed and clambered onto the back of the distracted reptile. "Leave her alone!" she demanded, walloping the mesosaur repeatedly over the head.

Clearly frustrated, it pitched Spratt violently against the dunes. Then it rolled, throwing Taylor onto the ground, and rounded on her. She scrambled to her feet and careened back down the beach, the enraged creature in hot pursuit. She numbly registered that Ben was yelling something, but paid little attention; her concentration was focused on keeping one foot in front of the other.

The rain had aggressed into a fierce downpour, the heavy sheets spitting in her face and the sand dipping dangerously beneath her. The surf reached up the shoreline aggressively, washing over Taylor's feet as she ran, seeking to trip her and drag her into its dark depths. It succeeded; she tumbled over, twisting around just in time to see the colossal cavern of teeth lurch at her face.

Her scream was drowned out by a deafening bang; the noise echoed around the bay, seeming to resonate off the very sky itself. The mesosaur staggered, its eyes swivelling madly in the sockets. It uttered a soft rumble of pain and grief, then collapsed on top of Taylor.

Taylor lay there staring wide-eyed at the blackness surrounding her, panting heavily. It took a while for her to absorb what had just happened; with trembling hands, she heaved herself out from beneath the body. She blinked in bewilderment at the sight that greeted her.

Ben stood behind the dead mesosaur, clutching a motionless Spratt to his chest. Beside him was a woman. Tepid brown eyes, framed by rings of chocolate hair, watched her cautiously.

"Well you're a lucky one, that's for sure," the woman said simply. She stepped forward. "The name's Emily."

* * *

_I had always planned to include Emily in this story, but an anonymous reviewer just predicted it! o_o Crazy fangirl telepathy-ness again. Also, updates will be horribly slow and I'm sorry. :( I'm currently buried under half a tonne of uni work. Will be back in the term holidays though.  
_


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